Love Delusion: Chapter 14

Lin Anran didn’t know why, but he’d been doing yoga for almost an hour now and he wasn’t the least bit tired.

As expected, this was his favorite exercise regiment. It didn’t even feel like he was exercising at all.

Yoga was indeed amazing. Lin Anran thought that yoga, as an exercise practice, was out of this world. Doing yoga was so comfortable and peaceful that it was indeed strange that not many people do it.

However, he did sweat a little. Lin Anran had always adhered to the principle of replenishing the body with water after exercising. Therefore, after finishing his lotus pose, he stood up and left his yoga mat to get a drink of water.

Shang Hao was standing by the dining table, drinking water from a cup. When Lin Anran passed by, his eyes automatically followed Ranran’s figure.

This penguin dressed in yoga clothes had finished dancing and was now walking slowly by his side to drink water.

Of course, although his exercising postures weren’t very good, he still had all the right equipment.

His appearance in yoga clothes was extremely cute.

Lin Anran’s long hair was tied up in a bun at the back of his head, and he was wearing a form-fitting sports shirt on his upper body and loose trousers on his lower body. He was slender, but well proportioned, with a thin waist, long legs, and straight shoulders.

And because he mostly stayed at home all year round, his skin had very little exposure to the sun, and so it had a delicate, natural texture of porcelain white. When he was raising his head to drink water, Shang Hao was still staring at him.

After drinking a cup of water, Lin Anran felt that his physical condition could stand another hour of exercise. When he passed by Shang Hao again, he heard Shang Hao put down his cup.

Lin Anran subconsciously wanted to run, but then in the next second, a pair of hands picked him up by the waist, lifting him off his feet

However, the man didn’t just want to rub him this time. He held Lin Anran and caught his mouth with his own.

Lin Anran, who only wore a single shirt, was even smaller in his arms, and Shang Hao needed very little effort to hold him tightly.

As he kissed him deeply and gently nibbled on his lips, Shang Hao placed Lin Anran on the table. Still holding him, he leaned down a little so that Lin Anran could sit comfortably on the table.

Lin Anran didn’t know why he was being kissed so fiercely all of a sudden.

As Shang Hao’s mouth moved hungrily over his, Lin Anran subconsciously shrank back. To prevent him from backing away, Shang Hao brought up a hand to cup his face. But as they kissed, their upper bodies ended up falling on the table.

This position allowed both their upper and lower bodies to press together, making Shang Hao even more satisfied at its convenience. Therefore, he kissed Lin Anran to the point of distraction.

Before knowing Shang Hao, Lin Anran never knew that two people would have so many ways of entangling mouths and tongues, so intimately close, so ardent and warm, to the point of being muddle-headed. In one moment, the other person was running his tongue over the roof of Lin Anran’s mouth and entangling his tongue. And in the next moment, he was nibbling and soothing Lin Anra’s lips with his own.

As they kissed and kissed, he could feel his cheeks warming up like never before, and his body began to slightly tingle. His heart was pounding all the time, even as certain impulsive hormones were produced in his body, tirelessly urging him to sink deeper and deeper into this intoxicating seduction.

Lin Anran felt that he should be running out of air soon, but when Shang Hao touched his body, he forgot himself.

But when Shang Hao tasted coppery blood in his mouth, he frowned and pulled away from Lin Anran. All at once, he saw the small wound on Lin Anran’s bloodied lip.

Lin Anran’s lip was bleeding a scarlet color, which was smeared across his entire lower lip. Even now, it was still bleeding.

Shang Hao tightened his hold on Lin Anran’s body for a moment, and then he dragged him to look for paper towels and a medicine box.

“It just needs some lip balm,” Lin Anran said.

In fact, it wasn’t Shang Hao’s fault at all. Lin Anran had the problem of chewing on his lips when he became anxious. Over time, the skin was chewed to such a point that it became overly thin, causing him to bleed at every turn.

He himself sometimes bit himself and caused himself to bleed. When this happened, he would just press at it with a tissue.

Lin Anran tilted his head and watched Shang Hao, who was sitting next to him, looking through the medicine box. Even now, Shang Hao’s furrowed brow still hadn’t relaxed.

It was already past Shang Hao’s usual point of going to work.

He gently and silently pressed a small band-aid to Lin Anran’s mouth, causing Lin Anran’s head to dip back before rocking forward again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He looked at Lin Anran.

His hand that had just fallen away was now back at Lin Anran’s face, touching him gently.

Lin Anran looked at him too, and didn’t know how to open his mouth.

“I’ve said it before, you can tell me anything you want.” Shang Hao sighed, not knowing what to do with him. “If it hurts, you need to tell me.”

Shang Hao didn’t know why, but when they were together, Lin Anran didn’t have any sense of resistance at all. Obedient and well-behaved, not opposing nor rejecting, not offering his opinions, much less to speak of feeling pain. Most of the time, he was silent and mute.

Pensive, retracted into his shell, slowly digesting any negative emotions all by himself, just like the day before yesterday.

This was Lin Anran greatly wronging himself. It was very important for him to be able to clearly express his needs when dealing with other people.

Although Shang Hao tried his best to make Lin Anran happy, he sometimes didn’t know what Lin Anran was thinking at all, or why he was upset. He seemed to be accompanying a shell instead of a person.

Shang Hao wanted him to be able to speak honestly in front of him, but he also didn’t want to force him.

Shang Hao thought a lot, but in the end he just reached out and pressed the strange band-aid onto Lin Anran’s face.

——

The position of the band-aid was very strange. Lin Anran pulled it off himself by the time afternoon came around.

In the afternoon, Lin Anran received a sudden message from Peng Peng: “Lin Anran, I’m coming to see you later!”

When he suddenly received this message, Lin Anran was shocked, which soon first turned into nervousness and then anxiety.

Usually, he and Peng Peng only maintained a fixed number of contacts. That was, on the delivery date and when there was a new job. At other times, his friendship with Peng Peng stayed in the background.

He didn’t want to meet with other people, he didn’t want to. Lin Anran hurriedly responded at once: “Don’t come.”

Immediately after he sent this message, the phone vibrated with a new message.

Peng Peng Bang Bang: I’m here, open the door.

Lin Anran: !!!

It was less than five minutes since the first message was received! It was hard not to believe that this wasn’t premeditated!

Lin Anran could only scratch his head. This only friend of his knew him too well. It was a good idea not to give him time to reject, so that he could only face the storm.

Moreover, he knew Lin Anran had thin-skin and would not refuse. After all, it would be embarrassing to leave him standing outside.

If Peng Peng gave Lin Anran time, he would just think up an excuse, such as not being at home.

At this moment, Lin Anran, who was indeed at home, took a deep breath, and then took another deep breath. Under Peng Peng’s messages urging him, he nervously walked with slippered feet to open the door.

As he stood in front of the door, he still tried to send out a message to discuss this matter with Peng Peng: “Can we go to the coffee shop downstairs?”

Peng Peng’s voice shouted from outside, “What are you talking about, Lin Anran! I’m already here!”

Lin Anran took another deep breath. He opened the door, and Peng Peng’s enthusiastic voice squeezed in along with his body.

“Anran! Oh! My good friend!”

“Look what I brought you!”

Peng Peng was so large that Lin Anran had to take a few steps back to make way for him in the hallway, before a bag was eagerly stuffed into his hand.

This was surprising. This was the first time Peng Peng didn’t come empty-handed; he actually brought a gift, and the package was even pretty high-even.

It looked like a high-end brand of chocolate, the kind that was sold by the gram. He couldn’t possibly accept such an expensive gift.

“Expensive, expensive.” Peng Peng emphasized it’s preciousness with two words “expensive,” and said, “Now only this kind of thing is worthy of your current status.”

Lin Anran…He himself didn’t even know what his status was.

Lin Anran took out a pair of slippers and let him in.

But Peng Peng continued to stand in the hallway with a look of interest, his eyes glued to the other pair of slippers by the door.

Lin Anran followed his gaze, and his entire person became nervous once more.

It felt as if it wasn’t the pair of slippers that was being examined on the floor, but he himself.

“Is this the big shot’s slippers?” Peng Peng rubbed his excited hands and lowered head to change into the slippers Lin Anran brought out for him, but his eyes were still glued to that pair of ordinary household slippers.

“Yes,” Lin Anran summoned up his courage to reply. But he couldn’t help but pull on Peng Peng’s clothes weakly to encourage him to enter the house.

Fortunately, that was only a pair of slippers, and there was nothing else to see.

Peng Peng sat on the sofa with his legs pressed together, seeming afraid of offending His Majesty the Boss in this house.

Lin Anran: …

Although he was slow, he still discovered that there was something really off about today’s Peng Peng.

Not only did he bring a gift, he didn’t dare to make any loud noises, even when drinking water. What’s more, his attitude toward Lin Anran was inexplicably more respectful.

Lin Anran had no choice but to ask him directly, “What are you doing here?”

After hearing these words, Peng Peng let out an “aiya” and scooted a little closer. “You, look at what you’re saying, are we so estranged? Based on the relationship between the two of us, isn’t it normal for me to come and see you?”

Lin Anran felt that today’s Peng Peng was indeed not quite right. How scary.

As Peng Peng sat, he was holding onto the glass of water and looking around. Seeing this, Lin Anran was in a panic, always afraid that he would discover some clues in the next moment.

Peng Peng asked Lin Anran, “Is that Shang Hao’s clothes hanging on the hanger? Can I go and take a look?”

Lin Anran nervously replied, “No.”

“Oh, okay.” Fortunately, Peng Peng was used to Lin Anran’s temper and didn’t question him; therefore, he could only pay tribute to the coat from a distance.

Lin Anran’s small home wasn’t very big. After looking around for a bit, Peng Peng withdrew his gaze somewhat inexplicably.

He originally wanted to hear Lin Anran talk about this big boss, but Lin Anran was like a saw-mouth gourd. Since he couldn’t ask anything, Peng Peng could only give up.

It wasn’t until Peng Peng finally stopped turning his head to look around the room that Lin Anran’s tense and fragile nerves were able to slightly relax.

Peng Peng sitting in his house made him feel anxious; it felt as if something was trying to squeeze it’s way into his shell.

Peng Peng chatted unilaterally with Lin Anran for a while. The atmosphere wasn’t warm enough, primarily because the piece of wood next to him spoke too few words and so he could only bounce from topic to topic.

“Don’t you want to taste the chocolate I brought you?” Peng Peng asked. “It’s super delicious.”

Lin Anran said “Mmn,” got up, and went to pull out the chocolate that he’d just put in the refrigerator.

After he came back with the chocolate, Peng Peng took the initiative to undo the complicated box that housed the chocolate. At this moment, the mobile phone in Lin Anran’s pocket suddenly vibrated.

When he was drawing, he would habitually put his phone on silent. When Lin Anran pulled his phone out for a look, his heart nearly stopped in fright. He immediately and swiftly rejected the call.

Peng Peng complained, “200 for one gram, can eating this thing turn people into immortals? I had to wait in line for it too! My God…”

When Lin Anran didn’t come over, Peng Peng finished muttering to himself and turned his head to look for him. “Why are you standing there? Come and sit down.”

“I…”

Lin Anran only managed to say one word, before the phone that had originally been quiet began to vibrate again. Because he was nervous, he subconsciously glanced down at his phone.

“Is it a phone call?” Peng Peng turned around on the sofa and followed his gaze.

Lin Anran took a step back.

“You answer it, don’t worry about me,” Peng Peng said in a baffled voice. He suddenly thought of something, and his eyes brightened. “Wait, is that Shang Hao calling?! Is it? Is it?”

…This person calling was precisely Shang Hao. Indeed, Peng Peng hit the nail on the head.

Lin Anran said, “It’s not him…”

When he said this, his throat was completely dry and his head was empty. He couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Lin Anran had now accepted reality. The things related to Shang Hao may be hallucinations in his mind.

For example, the signature on his drawing last night, the photo of them together, the phone call in his hand. What he saw wasn’t necessarily what others would see.

The reason Lin Anran wanted to hide Shang Hao from the very beginning was that he had no confidence in himself. He surely would be exposed, and people would look at him differently.

Peng Peng couldn’t see the caller ID on his phone, but he was very curious if the person calling was “Shang Hao.”

He smiled and told Lin Anran, “Do you look like you can lie? Take it. I promise to stay quiet and not disturb you.”

Lin Anran froze under Peng Peng’s gaze, and his hand tightened on the phone.

They looked at each other for a moment before Peng Peng asked in a strange voice, “Can’t pick it up?”

“No,” Lin Anran said.

With fingertips that had grown numb with tension, he picked up the call, and under Peng Peng’s gaze, put the phone by his ear.

“Ranran,” the moment the phone connected, Shang Hao’s familiar voice came through. “Why didn’t you answer the phone a moment ago?”

Hearing Shang Hao’s voice for the first time with a third person present, Lin Anran became absentminded, confused by this strange disorder.

“Are you okay?” Shang Hao’s voice asked into his ear.

But hearing his calm voice, Lin Anran no longer felt so nervous.

Peng Peng stared at him. Although he wanted very much to come over and listen, he still held himself back. His gaze looked calm, not strange nor curious.

Lin Anran said, “It’s nothing.”

Shang Hao said, “I bought something. Some people will deliver it to the door later. You just have to open the door, you don’t have to mind them.”

Lin Anran was still in a daze and mumbled indistinctly, “Oh…”

He was afraid of revealing himself, so he avoided making eye contact with Peng Peng. But at this time, he couldn’t help but turn his gaze back to look at Peng Peng.

Shang Hao still wasn’t reassured. “I’ll come back in a bit.”

This time, Lin Anran responded very quickly, “No need.”

No, don’t come back. They want to arrest you. The farther you run, the better.

He wanted to protect Lin Fenran.

“Got it,” Shang Hao said. “Ranran, remember to apply lip balm. I love you too.”

…Actually, it didn’t seem to be so terrible to have Peng Peng look at him while he was talking to Shang Hao.

Lin Anran’s mood went from tense to buoyant. Just now, Shang Hao’s voice saying “I love you too” was incredibly comforting, just like a warm hug to his ear.

Since that day, Shang Hao stopped saying “I love you” and instead said “I love you too.”

After Lin Anran hung up the phone, Peng Peng asked, “Is it something important?”

Lin Anran walked up to him and sat down. Much calmer now, he said, “No.”

“Okay.” Peng Peng also didn’t ask too much and only said, “Let’s eat chocolate.”

Lin Anran hummed in consent. His mood at his moment was very subtle. At that critical moment ago, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity, as if a new emotion was about to break through the soil and grow, rustling at the soil in his heart. He didn’t know what to think.

“You choose first. What kind of flavor do you want?” Peng Peng pointed out the flavors of chocolate and said, “This is 70% black truffle, this is Bailey’s sweet white truffle, what kind of red wine is this…”

As Lin Anran listened to Peng Peng talk, he was lost in thought.

He recalled what had happened a moment ago.

He knew it now. Even if Shang Hao was just Lin Fenran, Lin Anran felt that he could protect him.

He could bear those gazes himself. But he would not allow them to look at Lin Fanran with that kind of gaze. He wasn’t willing.

He wasn’t powerful; he was even more cowardly and selfish than others, but the way to become powerful quickly was to have someone who he wanted to protect.

Peng Peng was ready to leave after eating chocolate at Lin Anran’s house. He didn’t originally want to see Shang Hao this time; he didn’t have the guts. He merely came over to rub off on the rich.

Lin Anran was in the middle of changing his shoes to send him out when he heard a knock on the door outside. An unfamiliar voice called out, “Hello, is anyone at home? Sufeng Delivery is here to serve you.”

Lin Anran remembered that he’d forgotten something important. Earlier, the reason Shang Hao called was to tell him that someone would be delivering something to the house.

Peng Peng touched his shoulder. “Hey, go and open the door.”

Lin Anran moved past Peng Peng and opened the door. The moment the door opened, the two people standing inside were shocked by the huge box outside.

It wasn’t an ordinary express box. After all, what kind of express box would be firmly nailed with a circle of wooden strips on the outside.

And the support services also came along with it. The courier stood next to the box, along with two installers with tool boxes.

Peng Peng was stunned by this scary sight, and he mumbled, “What did you buy…”

The two people standing in the hallway couldn’t move the thing in, so they had to retreat first. The fearful Lin Anran couldn’t speak at all, but he had the enthusiastic Peng Peng, who helped directed everyone, placed the receipt in Lin Anran’s hand, and gave the courier boy a bottle of water.

The two installation masters began to work on unpacking the box. Watching them busily working away, Peng Peng could no longer bear to leave. He squatted in the living room of Lin Anran’s house and watched with excitement.

“What did you buy?” he asked Lin Anran.

“…I didn’t buy it.”

“Oh!” Peng Peng’s soul of gossip burst into flames. “Shang Hao bought it?”

Lin Anran said, “Yes.”

Lin Anran wanted to cry without tears. He remembered that he forgot to check the credit card. When he wasn’t paying attention, Fanran went and bought something again.

Fanran was so difficult to raise, he couldn’t afford it. QAQ

The installation masters were busy for a while and finally assembled an extremely high-end and cool-looking treadmill in the living room of Lin Anran’s home.

A treadmill that actually needed two masters to install! Peng Peng didn’t know why he felt so excited. Maybe this was the power of money!

Originally, Lin Anran’s living looked good, neither too big nor too small. But after putting down this big guy, his living room turned out to be a bit narrow.

It was probably because Shang Hao saw that he’d recently begun to work out and so he arranged the treadmill for him.

Fortunately, his house was small. Otherside, based on his understanding of Shang Hao, the man would definitely set up a gym in his house.

At last, the master asked, “The installation is completed. The warranty card and manual are here. If you don’t need the box, we’ll take it downstairs. Do you have any other requirements?”

Lin Anran hesitated, wanting to say: That thing, may I ask what phone number I should call to have it returned…

Peng Peng said, “No more, no more! Thank you, the masters have worked hard.”

After Peng Peng sent the two masters out with some water, he came back and touched the treadmill non-stop, his eyes full of envy.

He cast a glance at Lin Anran in the distance and saw that he didn’t come in vain today. Wasn’t it just to enjoy dog food?

But Lin Anran looked at the treadmill from a distance, worried.

This family that wasn’t originally wealthy to begin with now had an additional debt.

In the second half of his life, because of supporting Fanran, he would have to get used to bearing more debts.

———
Xixi: Reminder: Lin Fanran is the name that Lin Anran gave Shang Hao, in reference to his perception of Shang Hao as his own split self. Fan means separate, half, split. Ran is the same character as the Ran in Lin Anran’s name.

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